The Syrian revolution of 2011 shook the Golan street as never before. From
the very beginning, it provoked discussions, arguments, and skirmishes. I
was still at school at the time, and I remember well how the revolution was
the only thing we talked about every day. Back then, I had great hope for a
free and democratic Syria that could liberate my town and return it to its
natural homeland, and erase the barbed-wire border I saw every day from the
windows of my house.
In the earliest days of the anti-regime demonstrations in Syria, a statement
<http://www.ahewar.org/debat/show.art.asp?aid=252088&r=0> was issued signed
by Syrians in the occupied Golan, titled, “You Are the Voice and We Are its
Echo.” The below excerpts from the statement shed some light on the
language adopted by the young men and women of the revolution in the Golan
(emphasis added by this author):
To our great Syrian people,
(…) Because we are an inseparable part of our Syrian homeland and its
social fabric, and because we are one and the same, we firmly believe (…) *that
whoever attacks our Syrian people by killing, massacring, arresting,
torturing, displacing or looting is an enemy, not one iota different from
the Israeli occupation.*
*That we are under Israeli occupation does not in any way mean we remain
neutral. We are a natural and indispensable extension of our Syrian people,
and of the broad segments of whom believe that the perpetuation of the
status quo, and its normalization as a reality, have played a major role in
bringing us to the low point we have now reached; and that Israel was the
principal beneficiary of this situation.*
*It is our national, humanitarian, and moral duty to side entirely with our
people against their oppressors, and to echo their voice loud and clear* (…)
This position we take is a sincere expression of our attachment to the
concerns of our Syrian people and their legitimate aspirations for the
restoration of their freedom and rightful stature among the nations,
consistent with the spirit of our “National Declaration”9
<https://aljumhuriya.net/en/content/syrian-revolution-occupied-golan?fbclid=IwAR1es7DasTM7yxIhKN0vGbaVoe2NSr9_5ak_9dQKuuvnW_DJBAciF74Luuc#footnote9_yze567u>
(…)
*Full:*
https://aljumhuriya.net/en/content/syrian-revolution-occupied-golan?fbclid=IwAR1es7DasTM7yxIhKN0vGbaVoe2NSr9_5ak_9dQKuuvnW_DJBAciF74Luuc